Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Federal Judge Rules Chicago Ban on Handgun Sales Unconstitutional

Though Chang stayed his ruling to give the city a chance to appeal — and said a less restrictive ordinance than the unconstitutional blanket ban could yet pass muster — lawyers for the Illinois Association of Firearm Retailers were quick to predict that neighborhood gun stores could now open before the end of 2014.

The ruling is the latest in a series of legal blows to the city’s efforts to restrict gun ownership since the Supreme Court in 2010 ruled Chicago’s handgun ban unconstitutional.

City Hall attorneys had argued that the gun sale ban makes it harder for criminals to get their hands on weapons.

Chang agreed the city had a “fundamental duty” to protect its citizens and acknowledged that “the stark reality facing the City each year is thousands of shooting victims and hundreds of murders committed with a gun.”

But he wrote that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense “must also include the right to acquire a firearm.”

“If all cities and municipalities can prohibit gun sales and transfers within their own borders, then all gun sales and transfers may be banned across a wide swath of the country if this principle is carried forward to its natural conclusion,” he added.

ssgmarkcr who sent me the link had this to say:

Most interesting is that Judge Chang was nominated as a federal judge by President Obama in 2010. I find it encouraging that this potentially shows that a judge is showing independent thought in deciding court cases and not feeling bound or beholding to who appointed him.

Not necessarily. This judge is working with the law of the land as it is now. That doesn't mean he agrees with it, although I'll admit, given his ruling in this case I imagine if he were a Justice he'd vote to keep these laws on the books.